Grain and merchandise car



Jan. 13. 1925 A. CAMPBELL GRAIN AND MERCHANDISE CAR Filed Jan. 18, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 NA'F //v MENTOR ARG YLE c /PBELL H/s ATTdR/VEY Jan. 13, 1925 A. CAMPBELL GRAIN AND MERCHANDISE CAR 1: b3 93 h.v\ hi i n m? 5 B J P m HHHI HHHHHH M J m m R j w w w T w N A MW I Hwy w 2 Filed Jan, 18, 1925 CMEPEBML, GE CHIUAGG, ILLINUIS, ASSIGNQIEL T6 EQUDPMENT CDMPANY, 0E CHIGAGO, ILLI'MUIS, .Ei. QOZEZZQBEATIQN @"F ILLINFEB.

GMTRI AND Application filed January 18,. 1923.

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that l, ARGYLE CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in Grain and Merchandise Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawingas, forming a part of this specification.-

l y invention relates to imprbvements in grain and merchandise cars and more particularly to the construction of the doors and framework identified therewith.

An object of the invention is to provide doors on the exterior of the car which will safely hold grain or similar granular material loaded in direct contact with the doors and Without interior grain doors or boarding such asv are now commonly used.

Another object of the invention is to secure a closure which will prevent leakage of pulverulent or granular lading and which shall fully protect the lading against the entry of snow, rain or thelike.

A further object of the invention is to utilize the weight of the closure itself and the outward thrust of the lading against the closure for the purpose of securing a. tight joint between the car framing and the closure or between sectional parts of the closure. 7

A more specific object of the invention is to provide suitable means for moving the closure and overcoming the frictional resistance between the lading and the inner face of the closure.

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from the description considered in connection with the drawings, hereinafter following.

In the drawings forming a. part of this specification, Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of a car showing my improvements in'connection therewith. Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a perspective detail view showing the relation between the sealing member and closure sections and is eriai Ito. erases.

taken on a line corresponding to line of Figure 1. Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the rear margins of the closure in its relation to the door post and is taken on a line corresponding to line of Figure 1. spect-ive view of the bottom of the door in its relation to the car structure and is talren on a line corresponding to line 5-5' of Figure 1. Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Figure 1. Figure 7 is a horizontal, sectional View, corresponding substantially to the line 7-7 of Figure 1, showing the adjacent edges of the doors partly separated. Figure 8 is a detail perspective view illustrating the connection between one of the horizontal framing members and one of the vertical framing members. Figure 9 is a perspective view of-the outer margin of the right hand section of the closure as viewed from the interior of the car. Figure 10 designates the portion of the closure shown in Figure 9 as viewed from the outside of the car. Figure 11; is a side elevation of a portion of the car showmg my improvements in connection with an alternative construction wherein the door closure is moved entirely to one side of the dooropening. And Figure'lQ is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 1212 of Figure 11.

In said drawings, 10 denotes the vertical side wall of the car formed with the usual door opening in the side thereof, the car being provided with a channel side sill 11, floor boards 12, door posts 1313, side top members formed of angle 14 and plate 15,

and the usual diagonal braces 16 connected to the top member by means of rivets and gusset plates 17. The floor boards throughout the width of the door opening are protected by means of threshold plate 18.

The closure for the door opening as shown in Figure 1 consists of two sections Figure 5 is a detail periii) A and B,each preferably formedof a metallic plate and movable in opposite di rections to either side of the doorway. These door sections are slidably mounted on a horizontally disposed track 19 which preferabliy consists of a bulb angle member secure to the side sill 11 and extending outshape of the angle and thereafter extends downwardly and in the shape of a U, as shown in Fi re 5, extending around the bulb 27 of the track 19, thus providing an interlocking seal joint therewith and furthermore providing a construction of great strength and rigidity for the lower margin of the door sections. The rear verti cal margin of .each door section is bent inwardly and formed U-shape as at 28 to conform substantially to the shape of the bulb 29 of the door post 13 and thus form an interlocking seal 'oint therewith. The door sections A and are adapted to meet preferably centrall of the door opening and the meetin e gas of the sections are adapted to over ap to fully close the door openin In order to guard the door sections roin deflection in a vertical plane the front ed es thereof are in the form of beams of Sn cient strength to resist bend ing of the closure. The front margin of door section A is channel shaped as indicated at 30 and the outer edge of the channel flange is rigidified by a U-shape bend 31.. The outer corner of the channelshaped portion 30 is flared to a limited extent as shown at 32 to facilitate interengagement between the respective door sections. The front edge of door section B is in the form of a Z, as shownzat 33, and

.when the door sections are in closed position, the Z-shaped portion of this section is adapted to fit over the channel-shaped portion of the opposite door section. As shown in Fi I res 9 and 10, the lower portion of the -shaped margin of section B is formed pan-shaped by means of horizontal wall 34 and upwardly extending flan e 35. This pan-shaped ortion extend -under and around the U-s aped margin 26 of the opposite door section and in this manner any leakage of ladin which might seep through the crevices at t e meeting of the res ective doorsections will becan ht in this pan-shaped ortion and cho g of such material quickly result,

thereby preventing leakage. -The upper margin of each door section is reinforced in a suitable manner and preferably by bending the main body of the late outwardly and downwardly, formin a U- shaped section 36 which is preferab y filled by a block of wood 37 to further strengthen the margin and prevent inward collapse of the outer flange of the U-shape. This upper margin 36 is disposed between flange 38 of Z-bar 39 which is secured to the top angle member 14 of the side framin and between the downwardly extending fiange of the angle member 40 which is secured to the web of Z-bar 39. Downwardly extending flange 38 of Z-bar 39 acts as a Weatherstrip to prevent the entry of rain inside the car and further; serves to prevent outward movement of the closure from pressure of the lading thereon. In order to insure a weather-proof joint between the door sections ad acent the upper margin thereof,

tion B gradually decreases near the top thereof and the outer flange of the Z portion is welded at41 to the lower edge of the U-shaped margin 36, thereby providing a downwardly s10 ing ridge 42 beneath which the channel-s aped portion 30 of door section A extends, the latter being notched or otherwise pressed to shape to fit under the aforesaid ridge.

.85 the depth of the Z-section 33 on door sec- 1 The security thus afforded by the weatherproof overlapping joint between the two door sections is further augmented by means of an elongated sealing member 43 formed. with a hook portion 44 adapted to engage the rigidified edge 31 of door section A. This sealing member 43 is vertically disposed and preferably formed to extend continuousl along the joint between the sections A and B forming the closure. A series of hinge members 45 are rigidly secured to the sealing member 43 and are pivotally mounted at 46 on crank'arms 47 which are rigidly keyed at 48 to verti cally extending shaft 49 rotatably mounted in bearings 50 which are secured to door section B adjacent the front edge thereof. A lever 51 mounted on the shaft 49 in such a manner as to permit of vertical swinging movement on the shaft furnishes the means for effectin rotation of the said shaft and in cooperation with locking hasp 52, locking pin 53 and lock-plate 54, is adapted to lock and seal the doorsrelatively to eachother and to the car structure as the beep 52 passes through a slot in the lever 51 and pin 53 then inserted in a perforation in the hasp in the path of the lever, thereby preventing outward movement of the same. In order to prevent rain from entering in the crevice between the door section and the top of the sealing member and percolating to the interior of the car, the shedding ridge 42 is extended over the said crevice and formed with a beading 55. a

in a cor of this t 1, e tire leding is in direct contact with. tie closure, it will be apprecistcd that COIJLSiflldEd-lfllfi dificulty would ordinarily be experienced in opening the closure with the load tbereeguinst. .11 have therefore provided novel leverage multiplying menus for prying the door sections open u; limited distance, and permitting the-discbur of greater portion of the load wliic is pressing sgeinst the closure to reylieve the pressure against the closure to one of the Slltfi) beeriugs sucli cu. extent that further opening of the some is opening or star mecbenism, in, preferred form, is illustrated, in Figure 1 consists of a bracket 56 secured to door section 1 1; u lever 5'? pivoted to such bracket by means of pivot 58 st u point iutermediete its ends and thus providing shot-tend lone" lever erms; a. sliding bolt 58 p ssiug t" rough ide t0 which is preilcrubly formed integrslly' with. bracket 56, ssid sliding bolt 59 being pivotoldy secured to the outer end of the short arm or lever 5? by means of pivot 61 and extendedto engage the other door section where on abutment provided therefor. additional guide 63 is prefcrebly included to support and guide the outer end of the slicing bolt 59 thereby causing the to move in straight line, whereas the pivot 61 moves in on urcuste path, Eu order to compensate forsucli diff'erentisi movement, the perforation for tl e pivot- 61 is slotted as shown at 641-, In this instance, the ebutmeut 6% is, for purpose on the resr fates of 50 but it is to be understood tbst be formed as a separate member. A coin plate 65 is socure'd to door section A on which cum 66 1s pivotslly mounted and which eogcges the depending orm oi the lever 57 for the purpose of msintsiuing the bolt 59 m a release osition es the lever srm would normally mug in e Verticul position due to lts weight and move the bolt in tire path of the door opening where it would be lisble to bending or be a source of danger to trcinmen passing in and out of the cur. The bracket 56 is provided at the rear thereof with a countersunk recess 67 111 a wall there/or for the reception of the head of pivot 58, thereby permittin tbe assemblingof bracket 56, lever 57 on sliding bolt 59 and riveting the same to the door section as uself-conteined unit.

It will be seen that while the mechanism as described is eficscious for moving of ewnomy, provided the door s short distance, its rouge of 0per-- ation'is limited and with certam kinds of lading it is desirable to be able to pry the door sections open throughout their ent re ran of 'movement and in order to accomplisli this object, I have disposed s bracket 68 at the rear bottom corner of each door section, provided with a hole 69 and en abutment 70 at a short distance below the lower margin of the door closure. A lever or suitable operating bar 72 is adapted to engage the hole 69 or abutment 70 for the purpose of successively engaging u series of fulcrum locations on the oer whereby tbe'door section may be moved in either direction with a step "y stepopera,- tion of the said lover or operating bar. The fulcrum locations in the present instance consist of a series of perforations 71 disposed at short intervals in the horizontal wall of the track 19. To move the doors in an opening direction, the bar 72 is inserted through the hole 69 of the bracket with the end of the bar 72 engaging in one of the perforations *(1 and timber moved in the direction indicated by arrow 73 in Figure 1. Closing is effected by s reversal of the above movement except that instead of passing the operating bar through the hole 69 of the bracket it may bear directly on the abutment 70.

Suitable stifi'eners such as shown at 74; are provided on each door section and are preferably formed to extend between the vertical margins thereof.

' The opening of the door is efiected. as follows:- Assuming that the parts are in position as shown in Figure 1, the locking pin 53 is removed from tlie bssp 52 end the lever 51 moved outwardly, thus rotating the shaft 4:9 until such time as the book portion 4A of the sealing member 43 has moved outwardly a sufficient distance to clear the edge 31 of door section A, when the sealing member is then swung back against the door section B. The double joint provided by the crank arms 47 and rotary shaft 49, together with hinge members 45 enables the sealing member 43 to move bodily. The locking cam 66 is then moved out of the path of the lever 57 and the operator, by grasping the end of the lever, exerts pressure thereon in an opening direction, as indicated by arrow 75. 'This forces the slidin bolt 59 against door B, thereby forcing t e door sections sport and permitting the discharge of la'ding. Any further opening" of the closure may then be efiected by fulcruming the bar 72 on the member 19 in the manner explsined before. o I

To lock the-door sections in closed posistructure tion over the opening, the sections are ing engagement with each other and pulling the sealin member tightly over the joint between t e sections.

In the arrangement illustrated in Figures 11 and 12, l have formed the single closure member so as to move entirely to one side of the door opening instead of in sections to either side thereof and have adapted the sealing mechanism to clamp and lock the closure directly to a portion of the car structure. 11 like manner the opening mechanism directly engages the car structure to move the closure in an opening direct-ion. that in this arrangement the upper, lower and rear edges of the closure are of the same construction as described in the preceding arrangement and the sealing member and operating mechanism are also of the same general character as described before.

In said arrangement, 110 denotes the side wall of the car, 111 the side sill, 112 floor boards, 113 rear door post, 114 front door post, 115 side top plate, 116 side. framing,

11? side bottom member and 118 side door top cover. The front door post 114 extends outwardly beyond the rear post 113 and is preferably disposed in the same plane as the horizontal member 117. The door or closure member C is preferably formed of a steel plate reinforced by a horizontal stiffener 119 and the lower corner of the door is provided with bracket 120 formed with 7 perforation 121 and abutment 122 for the purpose of moving the door in conjunction with the fulcrum locations 123 formed in member 117. i

The front edge of the closure is reinforced by bending the plate in the form of a Z at 124 which portion is adapted to overlap the front door post 114, the latter preferably being formed of abulb angle with the bulb 125 on the outstanding leg thereof. The closure is moved relatively toward the door post and locked thereto by means of sealing plate 126 formed with hook portion 127 adapted to engage over bulb 125 of the door post 114. The sealing member is hingedly mounted on the closure as before by means of binge members 128, hinge pivots 129, and crank arms 130 rigidly secured to shaft 131 which is rotatably mounted in brackets 132 secured to the closure. Rotation of the shaft 131 is effected by lever 133 which is adapted to be locked to the bracket 134 on the closure by means ofpin 135 passing through has'p 136.

The opening mechanism for the closure consists of bracket-137, lever 138 pivoted to the said bracket by means of pivot 139, and hool: formed with shank 141 passing loosely m. h guide 142 and connected to lever 138 by ans of pivot 143. The hook 140 engages with a pivoted bar 144 pivotally It will be understood incense closure for grain cars wherein the weight of the door resting on the bottom member forms an efficient seal against the escape of the hiding and furthermore the outward thrust of the lading against the inner face of the closure forces the inner surfaces of the margins of the closure outwardly against the flanges fixed to the car thereby eflectively preventing leakage of the lading and the entry of rain or water. In addition, the closure is so constructed that no part thereof may be removed or any part thereof pried open thereby preventing unauthorized removal of the contents of the car.

While I have shown and described what I now consider the preferred embodiment of my improvement, ll am aware that changes and modifications may be made in the detailsof construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention and all changes and modifications are contemplated that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

*1 claim:

1. In a railway car, the combination with a door opening formed in a vertical wall thereof, of a closure for the said-opening; and a track on which said closure is adapted to slide, said track having :1 depending flange along its outer edge, and the closure having a bent edge engaging therearound, and providing bearing surfaces.

2. In a railway car, the combination with a door opening in a vertical wall thereof; of a closure for the said Opening; and a track secured to the car below the closure and adapted to slidably support the same on the car structure, said track having a depending flange along its outer edge,-the lower edge of the closure being formed in the shape of a U and engageable with the inner surface of the aforesaid depending flange, and providing bearing surfaces.

3. In a railway car, the combination with a door opening in a vertical wall thereof; of a track secured to the car below the door, said track having a horizontally extending surface and a depending flange; a closure for the aforesaid opening; an angle reinforcing membersecured adjacentithe lower margin of the closure, said angle member having one leg securedto the closure and the other leg in sliding engagement with the afore-' said horizontally extending surface of the track; and a U-shaped portion on the closure engaging the depending flange of the track, whereby outward movement of the closure is restrained.

4. In a railway car having an opening in a vertical wall thereo the combination with abulb angle member fixed relatively to the car structure and disposed. adjacent the bottom of the openin with the bulb-portion on the outstanding Ieg thereof and extending downwardly; of a door slidably mounted on the aforesaid bulb angle member and having the lower marginal edge thereof bent U- shaple and extended around the bulb portion of t e angle member.

5. In a railway car, the combination with a door opening formed in a vertical wall thereof; of a slidably mounted closure for the said opening formed of metal plate and having the upper mar 'n thereof; reinforced by bending the pite outwardly into U-shape and havin the respective lateral marglns and the ower margin reinforced by bending the main body of the plate inwardly into a U-shape.

6. In a railway car, the combinationwith a door openin in a wall thereof; of vertically dlspose door posts fixed relatively to the car structure adjacent the ends of said opening and presenting oppositely disposed external flanges; a member fixed relatively to the car structure ad'acent the bottom of the door opening an having a downwardly extending flange, the said member extending outwardly beyond "the plane oi. the door posts; and a closure for the door opening supported by the member adjacent the bottom of the door opening and adapted to slide thereon and across the said opening, said closure having U-shaped margins engaging over and around the aforesaid flanges formed on the door posts and bottom member respectively.

7 In a railway car, the combination with a door opening in the side thereof; oi door posts formed of bulb angles disposed admcent the said opening; a bulb angle memr disposed ad acent the bottom of the said doorway and projecting outwardly beyond the door osts and to either side thereof, the said ottom bulb angle memher being cut away to pass the door posts; and a welded connection between the bottom bulb an 1e and door posts.

8. In a ra1 way car, the combination with an opening; of sliding doors for covering said 0 ening, one of such doors havin a channe -shaped mar 'nal edge and the ot er door having a Z-s aped marginal ed e adapted to overlap the aforesaid channe shaped edge of the other door. 7

9. In a railway car, the combination with an openin of sliding doors movable in op osite irections and adapted to meet an cover said opening, the meeting mar gins of said doors constituting vertical beams arrangedto overlap each other, the outer beam havin the lower portion thereof in the form 0 a pan within which the lower portion of the beam on the companion door is adapted to be enclosed.

10. In a railway car, the combination with a dooropening, of a closure adapted to close the said opening, the said closure being composed of relatively slidable sections havin the bottom margins thereof bent inward y into a U-shape to co-operate with a flange provided on the car structure, the said sections meetin in an overlapping relation with the U-s ape margin on the outer of such sections overlapping the U-shape margin on the other of the sections.

11. In a railway car, the combination with an opening; of oppositely movable sliding doors adapted to overlap when in closed position; a vertical beam on the margin of the outer door within which the inner door is adapted to extend, the said outer door having the upper portion thereof welded to the upper margin of the door to thereby form a weather-proof hood extending over the crevices formed at the junction of said doors.

12. In a railway car, the combination with an openin of a closure for the said opening forme of two sections slidable relatively to each other; means carried by one of the sections to force the said sections apart; and means carried by the other section to draw the said sections together.

13. In a railway car, the. combination with an opening; of a slidab1y mounted door for such opening; and mechanism for moving the said door, said mechanism including a lever pivoted to the door with the pivot thereof disposed intermediately of the ends of the lever, a sliding bolt cennected to one arm of the lever and extending beyond the door for engagement with an abutment independent of the said door, the said bolt being adapted to be moved by movement of the opposite arm of the lever.

14. In a railway car having sliding doors, mechanism for moving the doors including, a bracket secured to one door, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends to the bracket, a sliding bolt connected to one end of the lever and adapted to engage a member on the other door, the opposite end of the lever being adapted to be engaged for moving the o relatively to the door.

15. In a railway car having an opening in a wall thereof, the'combination with a horizontally extending member disposed adjacent the bottom of the opening; of a door movable on the said member; and means for moving the door on the said member, the said means comprising a or; and means for locking the lever bracket secured to the door adapted to have-a lever fulcrum thereon, and a series of perforations disposed in the said horizontally extendin member for the purpose of successively fu cruming the lever on thecar structure and thereby step movement of the door.

16. In a railway car, the combination with a door opening; oftwo doors adapted to slide towards each other for the purpose of closing said openin and means mounted on one door and a apted to swing at an angle to the plane thereof over the edge of the other of said doors for moving the doors towards each other.

17. Ina railway car, the combination with an'opening; of a closure for the said opening formed of two sections slidable 'relatlvely to each other; and toggle mechanism carried by one of the sections and adapted toengage the other of said sections.

effect a step by 18. In a railway car, the combination with a door opening, of two doors slidable towards each other for closing said opening; and a movable sealing member covering the meeting edges of the doors.

19. In a railway car, the combination. with a door opening; of'two doors slidable 7 towards each other for closing said opening;

a sealing member hingedly secured to one" door and having a hook portion adapted to engage the other door; and means for drawing the doors together through the medium of the said sealing member.

20. In a railway car, the combination with a door opening; of two doors slidable towards each other for closing said opening;

toggle mechanism mounted'on one doorand carrying a sealing member adapted .to extend over and engage the other door; and means whereby closure of the toggle mechanism operates to move the doors towards each other and lock the doors relatively to each other.- v

21'. In a railway car, the combination with to the said crank arm and ada ted to have engagement with the other 0 said doors.

22. In a railway car, the combination with an o eningof avslidable closure member fort evsaid rotatable sha carried by the closure; a

crank arm rigidly secured to the .said shaft; and a hook-shaped member ivotally secured to the crank arm and a apted to engage a member independent of'said closure member whereby rotation of the shaft will effect movement of said closure member in a closing direction.

23. Ina railwaycar, the combination with the independent member; fand means 0 ening; a vertically disposed an opening; of a closure for the said opening formed of two relatively slidable sections; a vertically disposed shaft carried by oneof the sections;'-crank arms rigidly se-,

cured to the said shaft; a member hingedly mounted on the crank arm's and adapted .to

posed' external flanges; of a closure forsaid a lever for effect opening formed of two doors each having-- U-shaped margin engaging the aforesaid flanges of the door posts and means for forcing the doors towards each other and into tight engagement with the door posts.

25. In a. railway car, the combination with an opening; of a closure for the said opening formed of two relatively slidable sections, adapted to meet centrally of the opening in an overlapping relation; a sealing member extending over the joint between they twosections comprising the closure, the said sealingmember having hinge members, securedthereto pivotally mounted on cranks rigidly secured to a shaft, said shaft being pivotally mounted in bearings rigidly secured to one of the sections; a lever secured to theshaft; and means for locking the lever in predetermined osition.

26. In a railway car, t e combination with mounted independently of said closure; a rotatable shaft carried by said closure;-an arm secured to said shaft; and a hooked member secured to the crank arm and ada ted to engage and over-lie the said indepen ently mounted member for the purpose of seal-j ing the joint therebetween and the closure.

27. In'a railway car, the combination with an opening; of a closure therefor; a member an opening; of a closure therefor; a member mounted independently of said closure; a sealing member movably mounted on said closure and adapted to engage and over-flie or looking said sealing member in position.

28. In a railway car, the combination with an opening; of a closure therefor a mem-M ber mounted independently of said closurea sealing member movably mounted on said closure and adapted to engage and overlie the saidindependent member; and means for moving said closure member with respect to said independent member through the medium of said sealing member. 1

29. In a railway car having" an opening the combination with a sliding door adapted to move across said opening; of engaging means associated with said car, and engaging means associated with said door, one of said means providing a plurality of fulhave hereunto subscribed my name this 15th ((zlrum loizations, 'SBB ISd engalging mearis bleing day of J anuary, 1923.

ispose in a su tantial y vertica p ane, and adapted to removably accommodate an ARGYLE CAMPBELL actuating member, operation of which efl'ects Witnesses: movement of said door. F RANGES SAVAGE,

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I HARRIETI'E M. DEAMER. 

